Hasselblad heats up the medium format war with the X1D II 50C

Hot on the heels of Fuji releasing the big megapixel GFX100, Hasselblad has fired backed and offered photographers thinking about moving into the medium format market a very desirable (and sensibly-priced) alternative – the X1D II 50C.

Hasselblad introduces the X1D II 50C…

The new model builds on the success of the original X1D, which was released back in 2016 and, as you’d expect sees a number of improvements. Using a 43.8 x 32.9 mm CMOS sensor, which is around 1.7 times larger than full-frame rivals, the X1D II 50C still serves up a megapixel count of 50-MP, which obviously can’t match the recently announced GX100 (102-MP), but is still plenty of resolution for commercial photographers looking to shoot their next billboard ad.

The X1D II 50C’s sensor is 1.7x bigger than full-frame.

Hasselblad say in they’ve; ‘listened to user feedback and improved upon the first generation with enhanced electronics for a quicker and more intuitive medium format experience,’ and one of the most notable updates is the 3.6-inch 2.36-million-dot touch-sensitive LCD, which Hasselblad say is the largest LCD display currently available on a digital medium format camera.

The new X1D II 50C boasts a larger touch-sensitive LCD than the original.

What’s more, the X1D II 50C’s live view features a faster refresh rate, reduced shutter lag and black out time between frames than the original model, along with a faster continuous capture rate, and a 50% speedier startup time, too.

A big resolution of 50-MP will appeal to professional commercial photographers.

The X1D II 50C offers a whopping 14-stops of dynamic range and can shoot full-resolution JPEGs or 16-bit RAW files for ultimate quality. The X1D II 50C can also be used to shoot tethered to an iPad using Hasselblad’s Phocus Mobile 2 app, which was announced at the same time as the camera and is compatible with Apple’s iPad Pro or iPad Air. Images can be saved to either or both of the dual SD card slots.

Interestingly, the new X1D II 50C model has seen a big cut in price from the original X1D and will cost £5,399/$5,750 when it starts shipping in July.